> you can't expect people at large to engage with nonhumans NPCs are a big component of a lot of video games. Imagine an Elder Scrolls game with no NPCs. A so

> you can't expect people at large to engage with nonhumans NPCs are a big component of a lot of video games. Imagine an Elder Scrolls game with no NPCs. A social media platform filled with AI agents pretending to be your friends is basically just a "social media simulator" video game, with all the same requirements for immersion that make it enjoyable/entertaining to use. The fact that it's "multiplayer" (other real humans engaging with the mix of humans and AIs) doesn't change that. Facebook has become a ghost town, so they want to turn Facebook into a Facebook simulator. Imagine if a dying MMORPG could populate its game with NPCs that would help retain the dwindling player base, to avoid a collapsed network effect. Sounds good, right? Same thing here. (Facebook became a ghost town in large part due to Facebook's own enshittification campaign, but that's another story)